Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) Stock Price

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) had its target price lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $45.00 to $47.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Live Oak Bancshares from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Live Oak Bancshares from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Live Oak Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Live Oak Bancshares from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.80.

Live Oak Bancshares Stock Performance

NYSE LOB opened at $42.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.83 and a beta of 1.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.71. Live Oak Bancshares has a twelve month low of $29.36 and a twelve month high of $43.85.

Live Oak Bancshares (NYSE:LOB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $156.15 million during the quarter. Live Oak Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.95% and a net margin of 12.68%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Live Oak Bancshares will post 2.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Live Oak Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 2nd. Live Oak Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.60%.

Insider Activity

In other Live Oak Bancshares news, insider Renato Derraik sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.83, for a total value of $2,837,250.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 4,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $160,512.69. The trade was a 94.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William L. Williams III sold 8,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.61, for a total value of $349,524.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,122,526 shares in the company, valued at $46,708,306.86. The trade was a 0.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 91,800 shares of company stock worth $3,523,194 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 22.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Live Oak Bancshares

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $43,261,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Live Oak Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth about $22,278,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Live Oak Bancshares by 655.6% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 687,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,339,000 after acquiring an additional 596,841 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in Live Oak Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $19,181,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Live Oak Bancshares by 366.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 519,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,313,000 after purchasing an additional 408,591 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.95% of the company’s stock.

Live Oak Bancshares Company Profile

Live Oak Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, and operates through its subsidiary Live Oak Banking Company. Founded in 2008, the company leverages a branchless, technology-driven platform to deliver specialty lending and deposit products across the United States. Live Oak Bancshares completed its initial public offering in February 2018 and trades on the NYSE under the ticker symbol LOB.

The company’s primary focus is on originating and servicing commercial loans for small businesses in select industry verticals.